HI Raiding Combo

Playing the fleet on the VASSAL module!

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 21st, 2017

45 Points

Here’s a gimmicky combo that would probably work better as a piece of a larger fleet than a standalone 45 point fleet.

Banshee’s Cry creates a whirlpool with Calypso. Based on standard island placement, you should be able to place the whirlpool near your opponent’s HI by placing the edge L away from the wild island nearest their HI. The Akua Lapu gets an SAT from Calico Cat, and proceeds to go through the whirlpool. Her S+S speed should allow you to raid the enemy HI if the whirlpool is place correctly. Unfortunately the Akua Lapu’s ability and the Pirate lack of a 0LR reroller prevent making Cat’s SAT easier to get. Since no crew take up cargo space, the AL can raid a huge load at once, and then get right back out of there. Get the gold back home and maybe go out for another robbery! The AL has enough firepower to hopefully defend the BC and Calypso if an opponent follows you through, but at that point you might not need her. In a multiplayer game this could definitely be amusing if you managed to use Calypso to rob 2 or more players, but the backlash would likely eliminate this fleet quickly lol.

This fleet actually has some backup options. The Coeur helps the AL move faster; I originally had Hammersmith aboard but the double action is more important when dealing with whirlpools, and because the whirlpools will be close enough for the AL’s base move to dock. While the enemy collects gold the AL can do the same, harass enemy gold runners, etc. It’s perfectly reasonable to have the BC’s crew sit at home while she does a gold run. I nearly added Hidden Cove but I don’t like events and think should not have ever existed, so I decided not to take the easy way out, instead adding an explorer and oarsman to the BC. In any emergency situation, the BC can dump Calypso and go get some gold, with the Coeur helping her or doing the same.

This is pretty gimmicky, and wouldn’t be likely to win many games. Mostly just a fun and effective use of the niche combo created by Calypso, HI raiding, and the AL’s one-of-a-kind ability. Feel free to comment and/or vote.

Check out this battle report to see how the fleet did!

Check out this video to see how the fleet performed!

Fleet page at Miniature Trading

20 Points: Feisty Libellule + Rover

The fleet in action on the VASSAL module in 2017.

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 21st, 2017

20 Points

20 points isn’t a build total you see often, but after neglecting to arm the Libellule in my “New Age of Armed Merchantmen” fleet, I actually thought up a decent combo.

Jordan Dumas proxies for Lady Roimata from Return to Savage Shores:

Lady Roimata
RSS-043, Super Rare

French
Points: 6
Link: Fetu

Ability: Captain. Once per turn before you give this ship an action, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, this ship can be given the same action twice.

Flavor: Suspicious and not very welcoming of the newcomers to her ocean-bound land, Lady Roimata has made overtures towards France for the benefit of her people. French cannons may be put to even better use against neighboring islands.

Here we have a strangely potent ship at a tiny build limit. The Libellule has SAT with reroll, and therefore can move S+L+S twice with up to six 4L shots. With Godiva’s link she still has 3 cargo spaces open for gold and can pick up coins quickly with the explorer, while the Windcatcher keyword can help her get home faster. Toss in a backup gold runner at L+L speed, and you’ve got a solid shot at winning unless you get nasty UT’s. With the low point limit and extreme speed, it’s likely you’ll get the very nice UT’s before your opponent.

Fleet page at Miniature Trading

New Age of Armed Merchantmen

The Aberdeen Baron in 2013.

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 21st, 2017

45 Points

I’ve always believed that 5 masters are underrated as potential hybrids or even as gold runners. Many have as many cargo spaces as they have masts, and therefore you’d have 3 spaces open even after adding a captain and helmsman. This fleet takes that idea to a higher level, using as little crew as possible to make “armed merchants” capable of getting gold, defending it from hostile pirates and other nations, and being durable enough that even if their guns don’t tell against more accurate opponents, they still have a chance to return home intact.

The Aberdeen Baron is the most exemplary ship that fits the theme. After Gold comes aboard (the girl, not the treasure – did I trick you?  ), she’ll have all 3 basic abilities at her disposal.

The Morning Star is the slowest of the trio and could get into trouble between the presence of a Ransom crew and her self-sabotaging ability. However, this fleet wouldn’t be complete without her, and she’s a great value for the points.

The Santa Isabel’s cannons are almost too good for her “merchant” role, but her ability and flavor text find her a fit in this fleet. You could swap Amore and the explorer for potentially increased protection.

I wanted to involve the French somehow to complete the triumvirate of imperial superpowers, but arming the Libellule seems pointless and I wanted ships with 4+ masts with at least 6 cargo.

The hope is that Amore’s “amor” can distract Zuan from harming HGold in case the latter can’t resist her piratical urges. (Yes, Thomas Gunn would be more convenient, but he’s off fighting the French again)

Thanks for looking at the fleet!  Let me know what you think of the “New Age of Armed Merchantmen”!

Fleet page at Miniature Trading

Armed Pirate Merchants

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 21st, 2017

50 Points

Trying to come up with an optimal fleet of “armed merchants”, but the Hostile keywords of a few named crew are getting in the way. Here’s the Pirate-only version. The Foresight is the epitome of a merchant ship in pirate hands, while the Pandora is criminally underrated mostly because of the third ship. (I wanted to use the Raven’s Neck but using the DH II made the fleet work perfectly at 50 points.)

Strategy is simple – get as much gold as possible and strike when necessary to protect your trading interests! 

Let me know what you think of this fleet of Armed Pirate Merchants!

Darkhawk II and Pandora

Fleet page at Miniature Trading

Cheapskate Pirate All Stars

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 21st, 2017

45 Points

This is an idea I had to come up with a new Pirate fleet concept – combining some of their most OP ships from the first few sets with the cheapness of flotilla firepower from the later sets. The result is somewhat nasty – 6 ships, all with decent speed, all with cargo for gold, and all but one with some kind of offensive addition. I understand that there are ways to optimize this fleet’s gold-getting efficiency, but I was going for more of a hybrid fleet than the typical Pirate gold swarm stuff that has been done already.

The Longshanks is the biggest and most expensive ship in the fleet, and is the flagship with a captain and the Hag aboard. Her goal is to subdue enemy gunships, grab gold if possible, and raid the enemy gold runners.

The Longshanks has an assistant, called the Carrion Crow. This ship is the slowest in the fleet and doesn’t have much room for gold, but her 2S cannons pack a punch. She might not be overly effective, but serves as a solid support gunship and a ship that can pick up the treasure scraps.

The Bloody Jewel is a true gold runner, but here she has a captain instead of a helmsman or explorer. With her decent guns, good speed, and capacious hold, she’ll have many duties similar to the Longshanks, but keep her away from enemy gunships until she can get some gold to brag about.

The Banshee’s Cry is to be expected for any Pirate fleet with “cheap” or “all-star” in the name. She’s the best ship in the game even without any crew, but here she has a formidable weapon behind her. The “new” Doombox, shiny and glittery right out of your RotF super rare pack. This flotilla lets the BC scare away opponents and serve as a defensive mechanism.

The Mermaid has a similar role as the BC: get as much gold as possible and use the rotating box of shooting death to scare away and deter all enemies. With lower cargo and worse ranks on the flotilla, this combo is less effective than the BC/Doombox. However, one can mix and match the flotillas however they like to achieve more balance. At this point, the BC’s health is more important than that of the Mermaid, so she gets the improved firepower.

Additionally, since the flotilla-towing ships are the fastest in the fleet, they could run out ahead of the gunships and drop the flotillas off at or near wild islands. This could ensure those islands stay in pirate hands, or give the Longshanks and Carrion Crow some covering fire before they get into action. Not to mention the thought of the LS and CC towing the flotillas themselves to put 13 total mobile cannons in one area at the same time.

The Rover is a final addition to fill out the points and complete the Pirate All-Stars collection. You’d expect to see the Jolly Mon in this type of fleet as well, but I wanted some combat capability and stuck to the theme of early ships and later flotillas.

Thanks for looking!  Comment below what you think of this Pirate All-Stars fleet!

Versatile English Gold Runners

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 21st, 2017

50 Points

Here’s a quick fleet using the English flotillas in a defensive manner and paired up with two of England’s best gold runners.

The Gibraltar and Lady Provost make for a dual HI-raiding threat. This can keep an opponent on edge. If you manage to steal anything and get attacked afterwards, the flotillas can help.

With the build total at 41 points and no way to add a 0LR with the point costs, I upped the build total to 50 and added the Hound with a helmsman. She’s the primary gold runner, and her ability can help you find out if a HI raid is worth pursuing. (or one of the other two ships raiding an enemy runner with the help of a flotilla) The helmsman could be put on one of the other two ships if they needed additional speed for a HI raid (exchanging the flotilla to the Hound in the process).

This fleet is fragile for 50 points, but the ships have 12 open cargo spaces between the three of them. All 3 also have the speed needed to make the flotillas effective, so there’s essentially 8 mobile shots sailing around for just 16 points with no captains necessary. It’s a fleet that would have to be careful with opposing gunships and picking its spots to raid HI’s. However the gold options available are pretty good, and showcase that England can put together a solid gold-based fleet without totally scrimping on firepower.

Thanks for checking out these versatile English gold runners!

Fleet page at Miniature Trading

Letter of Marque Attack!

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 11th, 2017

75 Points

Did you know that sea monsters can be assigned equipment?

This is a somewhat odd and gimmicky fleet that takes advantage of the rarely-used but potentially awesome Letter of Marque equipment. To further this aim, they are placed on the most unlikely of hosts – Cursed squids that have cargo for them!

The main ship in this fleet is the Belle Etoile, chosen for her speed and overall effectiveness at carrying the necessary crew and supplies. Arnaud is starting to repay his debt to his godmother by helping out the Cursed beasts.

One of the biggest keys is Cissey and the fact that you can glimpse your opponent’s fleet before choosing what to add with the extra 5 points. This allows for a faction check, and you can add the appropriate Letter of Marque equipment (all the same one if they’re going faction pure), which could include French Letter of Marque or Soul Mark.

I initially forgot about how the equipment is eliminated if you shoot at the ship of that nationality. However, the solution is to use the monsters to pin enemies in place, at which point the Belle Etoile (who will be working in tandem with them anyway due to Arnaud) can use her speed to swoop in and blast away! In the meantime, the sea monsters are immune to cannon fire and use their tentacles to wave a piece of paper at your annoyed opponent! XD These particular sea monsters are also great at boarding, so you could board them repeatedly and use their abilities multiple times without actually shooting and losing the letters of marque.

The gold running choices aren’t very unique, but I haven’t used the Coeur as a pure gold runner in a while, so putting a helmsman aboard is different for me personally. Each gold runner has a different speed, so they can hit separate islands. The Intrepide will hit the closest island with an explorer and get gold back quickly to start the parleying cycle. Until you have gold, the sea monsters can stay submerged. The sea monsters (with the boost) and Belle have the speed to help defend them if needed.

This is a gimmick fleet, which means there are big drawbacks. If you Parley away too much gold, you could lose the game from your own strategy. The Belle needs to quickly dispatch enemy ships before they can trigger the letters of marque. If the enemy doesn’t use one of the five factions covered by the letters of marque (notably the Pirates), use Cissey to instead add any number of things to the fleet. The creatures could be given shot equipment, which would make them more dangerous. Each ship could be given an oarsman, or you could even grab an extra gold runner such as Le Pique.

Finally, 70 points is a bit strange. You can make it 40/45 by taking out Calypsos, the Bon Marin, and the Intrepide with all their cargo. However, this would leave the Coeur as the only gold runner and only one unique usage of a letter of marque on a sea monster.

Thanks for checking out my fleet! Let me know if you think this concept could be improved!  You can see more in the Fleets category.

Fleet page at Miniature Trading

Defensive Flotillas (Spanish)

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 9th, 2017

40 Points

Don’t think I’ve seen this exact fleet yet. Two of Spain’s best gold runners with their powerful flotillas hooked up to defend them.

The Morning Star will only shoot if necessary and Zuan is not a large expense. The Monarca could use the other Freda if you wanted. I put the Diablo with the Monarca because she needs more defense and the Diablo’s guns are better than Armada’s. (plus the card/set colors match up better heh, with red of CC and RotF)

You could easily take out Zuan for El Raton, a ship that could even tow one of the defensive flotillas in a pinch.

A basic fleet, but one that shows how good flotillas can be, not just for gunships. Not terribly fast, but decently well-armed overall.

Fleet page at Miniature Trading

American Gold Fleet

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 3rd, 2017

45 Points

This is a quick fleet I thought up after considering some RtSS combos. It’s a rare fleet that uses American game pieces but has almost no combat capability (just rams and boards if desperate).

The cargo master is actually Huang Bai from Return to Savage Shores:

Huang Bai
RtSS-051
Mercenary
Points: 5
Link: Zhànfǔ

Ability: Ex-Patriot. Hostile: Spain. Once per turn, you can eliminate one of this ship’s crew to give her an extra action. After looking at treasure on a wild island, you can trade any one treasure from that island for a random treasure on any other wild island. This ship must load the traded treasure.

Flavor: Unwilling to cede the end of the Jade Empire, Huang Bai nonetheless realizes the need to pause and rebuild—as a mercenary. His first customer, America, is eager to pit him and “Golden Axe” against the expanding Spanish empire.

~~~~~

Huang Bai is absolutely perfect for the Frontier (from SS). The Frontier is a premium gold runner, expensive but very capable of almost any treasure-related task you give her. Bai’s sac ability is perfect for the Frontier’s huge cargo hold, allowing for many sacrificial oarsmen without compromising the Frontier’s ability to transport large loads of gold. The treasure trading ability is great for the Hoist keyword, and will hopefully allow for the Frontier to get rid of negative UT’s like Missionary. The Frontier can move 6S (S+S+S+S+S+S) up to 3 times in the game, which can be used to get a very early start in the gold race, likely sailing to the far frontier and getting gold from the furthest islands. The ship gains the Mercenary keyword and can’t dock at her own home island, but that is rendered moot due to the Hoist keyword being able to deposit gold at home without docking! With each oarsman that is eliminated, her cargo space gets freed up, furthering the perfection of this crew setup. That said, she still has 4 cargo spaces open with all 5 crew aboard, which is plenty enough for some great treasures.

The James Madison carries Perry to allow Huang Bai to be hired for exploratory operations. The JM also has an explorer, which will allow her to get gold faster. The James Madison is sort of the protector/in-between ship of this fleet, since she has arguably the best armament and will be earning the ire of opposing fleets by spying on their gold discoveries. She is a gold runner and can dump her explorer if desired to make room for another coin. Perry would rather not fight, but with that ability she might board a small enemy treasure runner if a high value coin is spotted from the crow’s nest.

The Rattlesnake is a typical but fantastic option to fill out the build limit of any American fleet. At just 7 points with a helmsman, she is one of the best US runners at L+S with 4 spaces open. Between her small size and lack of an explorer, she will likely make sure the nearest island’s gold belongs to the United States, before running off and assisting her larger fleetmates in gold acquisition and/or combat deterrence.

The UT’s might help the gold total a bit, and it’s likely to find some with the Frontier. Thompson’s Island is a great way to protect some gold since this fleet is fragile and has no gunships, as well as providing a potential dropoff spot for the Frontier before the JM and Rattlesnake ferry that gold home for safety (this strategy would be best served in multiplayer games and/or games with larger oceans). The Hoist keyword allows the Frontier to unload gold at home, but the fort is also a good option if the Frontier needs to repair, at which point Thompson’s Island will function nicely as a the ship’s protector, with four 2L guns while the Frontier is docked there.

There were a few other options I considered, which included using the Mongrel (a nice ship from RtSS) as a hybrid/escort, and the Annapolis before I remembered the James Madison. Overall I was very satisfied how all the point costs and options worked out.

The nice thing about proxying the cargo master is that this fleet would be great with that setup as well! The Frontier wouldn’t be quite as effective, but she could have 8 cargo spaces to start the game, with 3 for the JM and 5 for the Rattlesnake! (helmsman and oarsman aboard the Frontier, with the other oarsmen on each of the other ships/perhaps an explorer on the Rattlesnake)

Thanks for reading; comment and vote!

Fleet page at Miniature Trading